143,033 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Acquired by Appian Way Asset Management LP

Appian Way Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 143,033 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $4,238,000. Southwest Airlines comprises about 1.0% of Appian Way Asset Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 27.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 58,161 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 12,701 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 68,470 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 5,107 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 84,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 60.9% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 22,390 shares of the airline’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 8,478 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.36 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a PE ratio of -462.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.80.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.